He copied it from Francis Bacon, the English philosopher who invented the scientific method.

A quote that I think is inspiring is Fax mentis incendium gloriae (est) - The passion for glory is the torch of the mind.
Whether it is a passion for academic glory, such as the scientist or scholar has, or another burning passion, it can light up the mind and make the intellect brighter. I think it is a clever phrase, and a good one for those hoping to do well in their their forthcoming exams, those with high ambitions.

People have to really suffer before they can risk doing what they love.

We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just are. We just are, and what happens just happens.

Our real discoveries come from chaos, from going to the place that looks wrong and stupid and foolish.

People don't want their lives fixed. Nobody wants their problems solved. Their dramas. Their distractions. Their stories resolved. Their messes cleaned up. Because what would they have left? Just the big scary unknown.

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

I always tell myself this so I can convince myself that no matter how hard I try, I will never lose. Something unfortunate that has happened should never be viewed as "losing" - it means you can keep trying and until you stop, you've never lost. The origin of the quote itself is my own.